Here it is, the long-awaited NZ equivalent of my greatest hit singles/albums of all time list I made a while back. Just like last time, I’ll be presenting this as a countdown, meaning that each entry will be more successful than the last as we go down this list. The main difference here of course is that unlike here in Australia, there was only one chart in NZ over the years, meaning that there won’t be multiple entries from singles/albums from the late 80’s/90’s/00’s like there was on my Australian list. Also, I won’t be including entries from the RIANZ charts given how they didn’t track album sales and that they were based on popular votes rather than sales, that and there was only ever a top twenty which means there’s a good chance they were struggling to fill out the top twenty each week during its run.
#500
Unlike in Australia where this needed to win album of the year at the Grammys in order to become a success for Lauryn Hill, the kiwis were initially enamoured by this solo debut from the Fugees rapper as it was a success upon its initial release over there. It still saw a massive rebound on their charts once she swept the Grammys with it, however it didn't have that big hit on their singles charts like it did here.
#499
Akon was certainly on a roll in NZ given how his second album managed to be a massive success over there like his debut was two years prior, of course its success was largely thanks to the multiple hits it managed to spawn for him which helped him stand up to the likes of Usher and Chris Brown at the time. His time in the spotlight would come to an end with his third album due to it flopping hard for him.
#498
This was a flop in NZ upon its initial release over there, this is even after the fact that it had taken the Australian charts by storm thanks to the family group's blend of adult contemporary and traditional Celtic music. It was given a second chance this year when the band embarked on a highly successful Australian tour which convinced the kiwis to check out what all the fuss was about.
#497
Much like their previous two albums, this third and final album that the Thompson twins released as a trio was far more successful in NZ than it was here in Australia likely due to the presence of Alannah Currie which encouraged her fellow kiwis to make the album a success through patriotism. Said patriotism didn't carry over to their subsequent follow ups when they were reduced to being a duo.
#496
While this was still a massive hit for David Guetta and Akon over in NZ, it appears that maybe the kiwis were a bit put off by the profanity in the title given how it was sung by the latter who had some serious allegations levied against him at the time of its release (trust me, you don't want to look them up.) It would be his final hit over there as nothing he released in the 2010's became a success.
#495
Much like the rest of the world, there was a good chance that this ballad from John Lennon would have been a success in NZ if he had lived to see its full chart run, it was meant to be a symbolic comeback as well as a literal one given how he had rekindled his love for Yoko Ono around this time and had dedicated it to her.
#494
Unlike in Australia, this album wasn't that big of a deal earlier in the decade when the Grease megamix became a success, although the kiwis still had nostalgia for the film this year given how this became a success due to the film being rereleased to theatres on its twentieth anniversary.
#493
This was a bit of a surprise hit for Chris Rea in NZ, mainly because he hadn't had any success over there prior to this album and that it wasn't much of a hit for him here in Australia where he did achieve minor success in the late 70's by appearing on Countdown. This led to him having a hit single in both countries on his next album which was also a massive success in the southern hemisphere.
#492
Regardless of what your thoughts are on this song, there's no denying it was a massive success back in the day meaning that many people felt comfort in hearing Linda Perry sing about her heartbreak in order to make it a huge worldwide success. Interestingly this song was only a modest success in the band's native America, meaning it was bigger in the southern hemisphere and throughout Europe back in the day.
#491
I would say that the kiwis were even bigger fans of the first Bad boys film than us Aussies except that this is a pop reggae track from a Jamaican artist which of course would be a more likely explanation as to how this track from Diana King managed to be an even bigger success over there than it was here. Unfortunately, this was her only hit over there as her theme to My best friend's wedding wasn't a hit like it was here.
#490
This was the final album that Wham released together, although technically it isn't an album unless you're from America where all of the duo's previous singles were taken out of the album and it was marketed as their third album. It was much more popular in NZ likely due to the singles being more popular over there this year than they were here.
#489
While the soundtrack wasn't as inescapable over in NZ as it was in Australia, it was a success over there proving that the kiwis either loved the film but didn't care for Bette's music or vice versa. Either way it was a good way for Bette to close out the 80's given how it spawned her sole Billboard chart topper in America.
#488
There were no signs of these guys slowing down in NZ just like there wasn't any signs of them slowing down anywhere else in the world, sure it only spawned a sole charting single, but it was a massive hit for them and all the incentive anyone needed to check out the album.
#487
I guess the kiwis did give this guy a chance with his breakthrough single "Bawitdaba" given how that was a minor hit for him back in 1999 over there, however I doubt many of them would've remembered that track when he released this magnum opus of his which combines two songs (both of which were flops over there) to create a nostalgia bomb about how much he loves the summer while living in southern USA.
#486
The absence of Martha Walsh wasn't even noticed on this track given how these two managed to find massive success in NZ with this song by simply replacing her with a different vocalist. As it turns out, David Cole would pass away not long after this track became the duo's final hit for them, which explains why this is the last anyone had heard from either of them.
#485
I guess the kiwis were also massive fans of the film Duets back in the day given how this cover of the Smokey Robinson classic managed to be a massive hit over there like it was over here, although it could also be that they had enough fond memories of the original as well as Huey Lewis's career in the 80's that they felt this was a nice nostalgia bomb for them at the time.
#484
There were no signs of these guys slowing down anywhere in the world as this lead single to their second album managed to be a huge worldwide success for them, although their success in NZ was about on par as it was here in Australia which suggests these guys were able to transcend genres with their ballads back in the day.
#483
This likely was the first time the kiwis knew about Sarah Brightman outside of her performance as Christine Daea from Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the opera, heck we Aussies gave her a number one hit earlier in the decade with her duet with Jose Carreras for the Spanish Olympics. In any case, we have the first of two big albums from her this year which was a collaboration with the London Symphony Orchestra.
#482
This was a huge success over in NZ as it was here in Australia, again the second single was even bigger over there due to the kiwis not allowing album sales to detract from the success of singles over there like we Aussies did back in the day. Much like in Australia, each of their albums would progressively be more successful than the last due to their popularity growing with each album.
#481
This was less of a comeback for Icehouse in NZ given how A: this wasn't as inescapable over there as it was here and B: their previous two albums were still massive hits for them over there. Even so, it's success in the southern hemisphere did allow it to finally crossover to America where they scored a huge Billboard hit with the second single.
#480
Much like the rest of the world, there were no signs of Lady Gaga's popularity slowing down entering the 2010's as this lead single to her E.P The fame monster was a massive success for her over there like it was worldwide. In fact, from here on out, her popularity was exactly the same in NZ as it was here in Australia.
#479
Given how these guys already scored a massive hit in NZ and their native America before they took the world by storm with this ballad (stay tuned for it in a bit) it was inevitable that this would be a massive success in both countries more so than it already was in countries that these guys were a borderline one hit wonder in.
#478
The success of this album in NZ was almost identical to what it achieved here in Australia; the only main difference is that the lead single "Longview" didn't chart over there likely due to the kiwis not having a Triple J equivalent which played the song about masturbation at the time (charming breakthrough guys BTW.) They wouldn't trouble the charts again over there for ten years as their subsequent releases bombed in the 90's.
#477
Although this was a massive success in NZ like it was here in Australia, it didn't quite reach number one over there like it did here which suggests that they were a bit hesitant in making this his final hit at the time. Of course, they were eventually won over thanks to how bumping the production is as well as him branching off his hip hop style to be more in line with the crunk scene of the day.
#476
This is technically the biggest hit of Will Smith's solo career in NZ, by all accounts it was "Men in black" but that was pulled from shelves over there the previous year in order to encourage the success of the soundtrack (it didn't work by the way.) This on the other hand was free to chart for as long as it did which is why it remains his biggest hit over there.
#475
This albums success in NZ was inevitable given the circumstances of when it was released, in fact I'm a bit surprised it wasn't even more of a success over there given how much bigger Nirvana was in NZ compared to Australia.
#474
George Michael already had plenty of success in NZ during his time with Wham as he did everywhere else in the world, so really his Grammy award winning album being a success over there should come as no surprise to anyone given how all of the singles managed to become a top ten hit on their charts.
#473
Unlike in Australia where there was a close competition as to which film had the most successful soundtrack of the 80's, in NZ there wasn't even a contest as Dirty dancing proved to have the most successful soundtrack presumably due to how much they loved the film upon its initial release.
#472
Anastacia is a one hit wonder in NZ, granted the album this serves as a lead single for proved to be a gigantic hit for her, however her second and third albums completely flew under the radar over there as opposed to them gaining traction here in Australia and throughout Europe for the American singer. Perhaps this was a result of her failing to achieve any success in her native America and the kiwis only being wowed with one single.
#471
Much like in Australia, this was the Alan Parson's project's biggest success in NZ due to it spawning a hit single for them, although the title track was indeed a huge success for them over there which gives you an idea as to how much more commercially viable this album was compared to their work from the 70's.
#470
Although Silk degrees was the bigger album for Boz Scaggs in NZ like it was worldwide, it was this album that encouraged its success this year as it managed to spawn him a huge hit over there which allowed his earlier album to become a hit (stay tuned for it in a bit.)
#469
I get the feeling that Cee Lo Green was meant to have the career that Bruno Mars wound up having throughout the 2010's, after all, he too was a musician of colour who had love and respect for the golden age of Motown as demonstrated on his one and only hit with his partner in crime DJ Danger Mouse (yes, he named himself after the 80's cartoon.) At least he got two massive worldwide hits for his efforts.
#468
It appears the kiwis were equally in love with this dance remix of an early track from Run DMC's career, as such it was also the biggest hit of the year over there despite this never charting on Billboard or even sparking any buzz over in America.
#467
It was the sequel to the 1977 classic no one was asking for, but everyone was nonetheless grateful for when it came out due to it somehow recapturing the magic from the original fifteen years after its initial release. It was a massive success in NZ as it was everywhere else in the world proving that rock operas from the 70's had held up remarkably well even during the age of RNB and EDM.
#466
Evidently this was a success in NZ slightly sooner than it was here in Australia, meaning it was the kiwis that somehow came across this theme song to a German cartoon aimed at preschooler's which resulted in its success down under. If you can believe it, the cartoon crocodile scored a second hit worldwide with "Ein Lama in Yokohama" (A llama in Yokahama for my non-German readers.)
#465
This was the only successful album to come from NZ EDM and hip hop group Kora, admittedly they did have a strange sound to them given how they combined two genres that seemed like opposing forces given how we Aussies and kiwis didn't allow them to become a success simultaneously throughout the 90's, however they seemed to pull it off for this one album which became a massive success despite its low placement on this list.
#464
Well at least we Aussies got in on the Bob Marley bandwagon when the rest of the world did as this too was his breakthrough success over in NZ just like it was here and in the UK. I'm guessing the world outside of his Jamaica were turned off by his more politically charged albums from earlier in the decade and finally came around to him on this album where he was more spiritually inclined than before.
#463
This was a modest success over in Australia around the turn of the century, however it was a much bigger hit in NZ likely due to the kiwis love for the English duo's previous album which was a massive hit for them over there. They didn't have much success going into the 00's in either country, although they do occasionally pop up on the charts even to this day.
#462
With two highly successful songs under their belt, Opshop were able to become one of the biggest names in NZ music thanks to their approach of what I'm guessing was meant to be post Britpop given how I've seen them be compared to the likes of Coldplay and even later day Oasis over the years. Their earlier entry proved to be the bigger hit for the band, however this was where their success officially began.
#461
While this wasn't as successful as either of the albums this was sandwiched between in Jimmy Barne's career either in Australia or NZ, the album made up for that by spawning his biggest hit in both countries in the form of the lead single which no doubt ate up some of the album's sales in both countries back in the day. Besides this was still heaps bigger than most of the competition back in the day regardless.
#460
I'm a bit shocked that these guys didn't have that inescapable hit with the lead single to their second album in NZ that they did here in Australia, it did chart over there meaning it was indeed released as a single, but it wasn't that huge hit for some reason. It didn't prevent the album from being a massive success for the duo, proving their brand of RNB did have an audience with the kiwis this year.
#459
Just a fair warning that when it comes to the east coast/west coast rivalry in the 90's, the kiwis are on the firm side of the west coast as just about every west coast rapper had some degree of success over there back in the day. One of the earliest success stories was Cypress hill who admittedly needed a push for success which came this year when they scored a massive hit with one of the songs from their second album.
#458
This was the only hit that Bill and Boyd were able to achieve in their native NZ throughout their lengthy career, it only became as such a year after they nearly topped the Australian charts with their touching tribute to the victims of Cyclone Tracy from the Christmas of 1974 in Darwin.
#457
Well, if you thought these guys were too low in my rankings on the Australian side of my site, you're in luck as the kiwis were much more lenient towards making them a success over there that all of their singles were much bigger hits and they also managed to score more hits over there as well. Their debut single in particular was indeed one of the biggest hits of the decade over there because of this.
#456
This wound up being slightly more successful in NZ than the first song from the Use your illusions era, only slightly though as "You could be mine" was a strong start to this era for the band over there given how it was the theme to the second Terminator film initially.
#455
Given how Seal was already one of the biggest names in music in NZ from earlier in the decade, it makes sense that his second self-titled album would be a huge success over there upon its immediate release even with him changing from EDM to RNB on the album. Of course, it rebounded on their charts when the second single was chosen as the main theme for the Batman forever film a year after its release.
#454
This was the debut album from Mark Williams, an album named after himself much like his Australian breakthrough from fifteen years later which spawned his one and only Australian hit "Show no mercy." Mark was one of the few kiwis to find success in his homeland in the 70's without coming over to Australia back in the day, I would say ever except he did eventually migrate here in the late 80's.
#453
Kiss never had much success in NZ back in the day, so I guess the kiwis weren't that surprised that they went in a more mainstream direction with this album given how their earlier material all flopped over there earlier in the decade. They did have success with their follow up in the 80's, although like Australia their popularity didn't last very long in the new decade.
#452
I think the world would've ultimately preferred Dire straits' fifth album this year rather than them temporarily breaking up so that Mark Knopfler could focus on a side project that only led to them making one album together in 1990, at least they found success with their fifth album after he dissolved that project in 1991.
#451
You'd think these guys would've had one of the biggest albums of the decade here in Australia, oh well at least their debut album was a massive success in NZ likely due to the kiwis getting their album cycle right as opposed to us Aussies who wanted to mix things up over here for some reason. They would continue their winning streak over there with their next album and its singles.
#450
Dane Rumble was a member of Fast Crew who had massive success earlier in the 00's in their homeland, so naturally it would make sense that he would embark on a solo career once the hits dried up for the hip hop group which culminated in this third single of his being a massive success for him. There was some interest in his music here in Australia, however it didn't translate to success unfortunately.
#449
They may have been a one hit wonder even in their native America back in the day, however that didn't mean these guys weren't able to have a lasting legacy with their one and only hit worldwide given how it's endured on oldies stations to this day. I'm willing to be many people believing that this was a Jackson 5 track given how well this would fit into their discography.
#448
These guys were previously known as the Dance exponents in NZ back in the 80's, although contrary to popular belief they weren't in fact a dance band and were more in line with new wave and pub rock. They rebranded themselves as the Exponents entering the 90's which allowed them to score massive success in their homeland during the first stretch of the decade.
#447
I guess the kiwis were bigger fans of Miami vice than we Aussies were given how the soundtrack was more popular over there than it was over here back in the day, this could be due to the theme song being a genuine hit over there which boosted its sales, but it could also be what a cultural phenomenon the show was back in the day.
#446
This proved to be an even bigger success over in NZ than it was here in Australia, again likely due to Elvis not having to compete with much competition over there as his death was likely the talk of the town compared to all of the exciting new local talent that it had to share the news with here in Australia.
#445
Well at least this songs popularity was a worldwide anomaly given how this was a hit in Roger's native UK as well as in Australia and NZ this year. At least this was had a hit earlier in the decade on the Listener charts over there, not like here in Australia where he remains a one hit wonder with a song that was three years old at the time of its success.
#444
This was more of an immediate success over in NZ, so much so that it managed to reach the upper echelons of their charts unlike here in Australia where it only qualified for that side of my site due to it lingering around forever in a day for the (literally) animated band. It's no surprise this was a hit for them over there given how it spawned a genuine hit for them with its second single.
#443
I feel this was as much of a surprise hit for Steve Winwood in NZ as it was here in Australia given how he wasn't popular anywhere in the world throughout the 70's, I guess it was due to people's nostalgia for his work from the 60's that this was a massive success for him worldwide.
#442
Given how this went on to be a massive success worldwide, it stands to reason that it would be one of the biggest hits of the decade in the rapper's native homeland which indeed it was for the rapper known as OMC. He did score a few minor hits throughout the second half of the decade in his homeland, none of which managed to become a success anywhere else in the world.
#441
This was a surprisingly good time for Grace Jones on the NZ charts, mainly because she had been active since the 70's in the music scene and yet it was her 80's material that the kiwis gravitated towards. This was more of an immediate success that she had over there compared to her previous album which had to work its way up the charts before it became a massive success for her.
#440
Well at least this album was a success for the Eagles in Australia upon its initial release, for some reason it only became a success in NZ this year which was six years after its initial release for a band who had been broken up for eleven years and were still three years out from reuniting due to hell still needing to freeze over for that to happen.
#439
While this didn't linger around the NZ charts as long in the 90's as it did here in Australia, this sophomore album from Enya was initially more successful over there due to the lead single nearly topping their charts upon its initial release. Much like in Australia, she would go on to have massive success in the 90's with her subsequent follow ups, just maybe not as much as she had here.
#438
This was an album that I thought was released exclusively in America, however it turns out it makes for a good greatest hits album given how it contains all of the band's biggest hits they had from their first few albums internationally. Indeed, the kiwis treated this as such which allowed for it to be a massive success for them over there.
#437
This was also a hit twice in NZ just like it was in Australia, although it was far more successful the first time given how it didn't have much competition on the NZ charts like it did on our charts back in the day. This was Frankie Valli's attempt at going disco, making him one of the earliest rock legends to try the formula to massive success which he would continue to do for the remainder of the decade.
#436
This was the last project that Talking heads were able to find success with even in NZ, I guess the world had become fed up with their brand of new wave mixed with their eccentricities which led to their next album being a massive flop for them later in the decade. It could also be that the film this serves as a soundtrack to wasn't well received at the time despite since gaining a cult following.
#435
This also took its sweet time to become a success in NZ just like it did here in Australia, although given how it spawned a genuine hit for Jack Johnson during the early months of this year, it managed to be more of a success over there even if it was at the expense of his biggest album here which is still to come on this list regardless.
#434
Again, I would've thought these guys would've been inescapable in NZ due to the kiwis love for reggae over the years, I guess they were too distracted by Sting's shaky songwriting in order to appreciate the tight instrumentation the band offered on each of their albums. Even so they were still a massive success over there even if they weren't as big as they were in Australia or their native UK.
#433
Speaking of Dave Dobbyn, here's his first solo single which was so inescapable over in NZ that it even managed to become a massive success here in Australia for the former D.D Smash lead vocalist. Unlike here in Australia where he and Herbs remain a one hit wonder, they both went on to massive success later in their respective careers in their homeland thanks to how irresistibly catchy this song is.
#432
Even though this was released around the same time in NZ as it was in Australia, this debut album from Crowded house didn't have a single of any kind over there until the third single became a huge success here in Australia. That song was chosen as the lead single internationally which allowed it to become a much bigger hit worldwide than it was locally.
#431
This proved to be an even bigger hit over in NZ than it was here in Australia for Dexy's midnight runners, although they didn't have any further success with their other singles or albums over there meaning they weren't any better off there than they were here or in America.
#430
Given how her older brother was born in NZ, it only makes sense that the kiwis would be equally as receptive towards Natasha Bedingfield's music as they were with Daniel's. Still, I don't think even they expected this to be as inescapably popular over there as it wound up being given that it became one of the biggest hits of the decade for her, naturally this led to her scoring a second hit later in the decade.
#429
Trying to look up this hip hop band from NZ will likely direct you towards an obscure TV show from the 80's, however you'll eventually come across information about these guys given how they scored a massive hit this year in their homeland with this track. Naturally this was around the time where NZ hip hop was really making the waves over there, so much so that some of their MC's even managed to crossover to Australia.
#428
It was inevitable that this would be a bigger hit in NZ than it was in Australia, after all the kiwis had already fully embraced the Brothers Gibb as the kings of disco by the time they released their magnum opus Saturday night fever. Admittedly this was the album which finally convinced us Aussies to do the same.
#427
From what I can gather on the Listener charts, Helen Reddy was decently successful during the first half of the decade in NZ but not on the same level as she was here in Australia. I bring this up because it's curious that this greatest hits album would be so much more successful over there than it was over here back in the day.
#426
I should point out that while it wasn't well received even upon its initial release, the Bodyguard was one of the most commercially successful films of all time worldwide which no doubt played a huge part in the soundtrack being a huge success for its star Whitney Houston.
#425
This was another RNB ballad that managed to become a huge success in NZ that was a massive flop here in Australia, this time it's from Johnny Nash who scored a massive worldwide hit with the final hit from his career following the success he had earlier in the decade with "I can see clearly now."
#424
Well, this is a surprise given how this was the band's least successful album here in Australia, I guess the kiwis were a little ahead of the curve when it came to the rock opera scene as this was the band's venture towards that genre which became a massive hit for them over there but not over here.
#423
It's no surprise that this debut single from Kesha (as a lead artist that is) was a massive success in NZ around the same time it was as such here in Australia, in fact I'm willing to bet the only reason why it was a hit in her native America was because of how huge it was in both countries given how long it took for it to take off on Billboard for the (then) rising pop star.
#422
I guess America wasn't interested in listening to a song about Paul's Scottish heritage, it's their loss as this became one of the biggest hits of the decade throughout the rest of the world with NZ being no exception.
#421
It was inevitable that Whitney Houston would find success with her cover of the Dolly Parton classic over in NZ, almost as much as me leading off this list with two songs that broke records on Billboard in such a short amount of time from each other.
#420
I guess the kiwis really wanted to hear more from this guy's back catalogue as he found success with an album that serves as a direct sequel to his greatest hits album he released from the previous year which was also a massive success for him over there.
#419
This was the first signs of Abba's reevaluation in the 90's after over a decade of them being mocked by rock snobs for popularising the trends of the 70's, of course like Australia this would also be a success multiple times over there due to the different ways people realised the band was actually good this whole time.
#418
Again, I'm sort of cheating with this entry as it wasn't that big on the RIANZ chart, but also it was released two years prior meaning that it's possible it was even bigger upon its initial release over in NZ.
#417
The best proof I have that this was only a success for Steps worldwide due to kids being forced to dance to the song in P.E was when this became a success in NZ almost a year after its initial release due to the success of the lead single as the album no doubt sat on shelves for months before the kiwis finally understood why it was a success in Australia initially.
#416
This was also initially a flop for George Benson in NZ like it was here in Australia, although the kiwis were more open to making this a success than we Aussies were which is why it managed to appear much higher on this side of my site even if its road to success over there is identical to what it was over here.
#415
This was the debut album from Pat Benatar, an artist that I would've thought would do so much better in Australia than she ended up doing. In fact her presence on the NZ charts accurately sums up how well I thought she did back in the day, meaning that we Aussies have since realised our mistake in sleeping on her music from back in the day.
#414
It appears the Phantom of the opera was so popular in NZ that a second soundtrack from the show was released in NZ which also became a huge success over there. I don't even think this was released here in Australia as it certainly didn't chart if it was.
#413
This was all set to be a mere minor success in NZ upon its initial release, however the lead single became a surprise success over there at the start of the 80's which allowed it to become a massive success for Ry Cooder. He remains a one album wonder in both countries, although he was a part of the Buena Vista social club two decades later which had a successful album with their release.
#412
These guys weren't that big in NZ, or at least they weren't compared to how well they did here in Australia despite them having more immediate success over there with their debut album. Here they follow up the success of Outlandos D'amour with this album which didn't spawn that big hit over there they had here and on their previous album over there.
#411
One of the bigger bands from NZ this decade was Salmonella dub, they were an EDM group who managed to score minor success entering the decade with their album Killervision given that was when EDM became more mainstream over there like it was throughout the 90's here in Australia. That said, this album's success was far more than its placement on this list suggests given how it lingered in the lower half of their charts for quite some time.
#410
At least this debut album from Pearl jam was more of an immediate success in NZ than it was in Australia, although like Australia it was a hit several times throughout the decade due to how the band's popularity grew with each subsequent album in the 90's.
#409
Well, if you thought that "Take my breath away" was a bad representation of what these guys had to offer, you'd be correct as they were a new wave band who scored a massive hit in NZ with their second album this year. Interestingly this had the potential to be big here in Australia as the band did appear on Countdown this year to promote the album.
#408
While these guys didn't reach the dizzying heights of success in NZ that they had here in Australia, it was obvious that the kiwis had enough room for their brand of pop opera to share with the likes of Amici forever and Hayley Westenra.
#407
This found the exact amount of success in NZ as it did in Australia, right down to the peak positions of the album and singles which I think is the only album to achieve this feat in both countries. Naturally this meant that Leona Lewis had the same amount of appeal in both countries with this album, an appeal that went away once she released her third album later in the decade.
#406
Everything about this track suggests that its success in NZ was inevitable, west coast rapper? Check. Theme for a film starring a west coast rapper? Check. Hip hop track in general? Check. It was a massive success for both men involved in NZ and even a moderate success here in Australia as its appearance on that side of my site can attest.
#405
Although this was a massive success for Lionel Richie in NZ, it was mostly a sleeper success which is why it's a bit lower on here than you would otherwise expect. Yes, it was massively popular, however it was more due to the two big hits that came from there as the album would linger in the lower half of the charts throughout the rest of its run on the album charts over there.
#404
Whereas at least these guys had some buzz earlier in the decade here in Australia before their massive breakthrough with their earlier entry on this list, in NZ they were unheard of before they took their music scene by storm with their earlier entry on this list. As such, their second album was a bit of a surprise entry for them given how it didn't spawn a single charting song for them over there.
#403
This was a bit late to the party over in NZ, however it didn't seem to matter as it was equally as successful over there for Martha Walsh and company as it was here in Australia at the start of the decade. I would say it was because of the Milli Vanilli scandal that resulted in these guys not being as big over there as they were here, except that C+C Music factory was even bigger over there the following year.
#402
This was more of a success for Led zeppelin frontman Robert Plant in NZ than it was here in Australia, likely due to this album spawning a huge hit over there with its lead single which is a good way of an album finding success in the southern hemisphere back in the day.
#401
Well Sade had plenty more success over in NZ throughout the 80's than they did in Australia, so it's little wonder that M People would follow suit with this trend as they also managed to be even bigger over there than they were over here. Interestingly the songs that charted over there apart from the lead single were also different to the ones that charted over here.
